The Wind Waker Collection 1
by Pvt. Noah
Summary: Anton is on his daily walk when he stumbles upon Linda, beautiful, charming Linda. The meeting of the two triggers unpleasant flashbacks from Anton's dark past, and Linda's. Rated T for brief sexual content, violence, and drama.


**Hey guys, this story is pretty much the life of Anton and Linda if Link did not get them together. Note; Windfall Island is much, MUCH bigger, with every citizen having a home. I thought that it was slightly absurd that there wasn't a single bed on the island and close to twenty people live there. Also note; the travel time is much bigger, so it takes about two months for travel from outset to Windfall and vice versa in this realm. SO Yeah, tell me if you like it/dislike it in your reviews!**

** Also Note: Linda and Sue-Belle(The pot lady!) are sisters, and they both were born on outset to Rose. Rose is the daughter of Sturgeon, who married Link's grandma's sister. I know this seems like a stretch, but this is how I pictured this world. **

** Please read and review!**

Prologue

Windfall Island was most beautiful in the morning, with the soft rays of the morning sun skipping over the salty waves of the great sea and kissing the beach sand, which was soothingly soft under your bare feet, the people opening their doors and chatting with neighbors on the way to breakfast. The shops, with their freshly cooked goods wafting through the air, as the shopkeepers opened the windows and doors, the little children and swine playing in the grass, the school children playing in the yard before their lessons for the day started, and the fishing boats launching out into the great sea, their captains hoping for a good catch that day…But Anton liked the walk around the Island best.

Anton rose from his bed, a grin on his face. He swung his legs over the side of his mattress, and hopped off his bed. He pulled on a white tee-shirt with blue horizontal stripes. He then put a forest green vest on over that. He then pulled a pair of blue pants that went to his ankles on, and then ran a comb through his orange-brown hair.

He pulled a small pair of black sandals from his closet, and strapped them to his feet, though he loved the soft grass of Windfall, he didn't want to step on another thorn barefoot.

Anton opened the window in the back of his house, and the sea breeze flowed through the window and swirled throughout the house. He breathed the air in, and smiled, his emerald green eyes shimmering in the morning light.

Anton picked a pictograph of a beautiful young lady from his nightstand up, kissed his fingers, and touched the pictograph. He whispered to it, "Morning Ash, I'm about to get breakfast, do you want any? Hotcakes with bread and OJ? Mmhmm." He set the pictograph down on the stand, "K, I'll be back in a bit, Love you sweetie…" He said, and headed to his door. He blew a candle he had lit from the previous night out, and opened his door, ready for a new day.

Linda's wake-up wasn't so smooth, as she was thrown off her cot onto the floor, due to the threatening waves of the great sea pounding the side of her ship. She picked herself up and looked out the window, which was slick with water from the waves. She used other cots to keep herself from falling over again. She climbed up to the deck of her ship and peeked out the door, only to find mobs of Chu-chus swarming the crew , long tendrils of jelly protruded from the Chus and snaked around the crew's legs and arms, and then through the mouth, to choke the air out of them. Linda shrieked, and dove back down into the cabin, where the window of her ship had been busted open, and along with the flooding waters, a bokoblin was raiding the storage. His huge cleaver was tied to his back using a thin strip of animal hide. He pulled the cleaver out, and hacked at the chests. He cracked the split chests open, and stuffed his loot into a large knap-sack, which he tied to his belt. He sheathed his cleaver and pulled a large blue sphere with a thin rope sticking out the top from his belt. He used a candle that was nailed to a nightstand, to light the rope. He tossed it into a cot near Linda, lighting the cot in flames, and looked up at her. He shrieked in surprise, his one eye widening to the size of boulders, and dove out the window. Linda looked at the sphere with intense curiosity, and watched as the rope burned down, and the flame grew nearer to the sphere. She had never seen anything like it before, it was uncanny, what secrets the great sea held.

The door to the cabin burst open and a crew member-with a glob of jelly sticking to his leg, which was covered in bloody knife cuts-scrambled down the steps.

He saw Linda near the sphere, and gasped; "Miss! Get down! That's a bomb!" He dove at her, and knocked her into the water, which was higher than her ankles, as the Bomb exploded, blowing Linda's ship to smithereens…

Anton walked down the narrow set of stone stairs from his house to the thin road that snaked all around the Island of Windfall.

He walked east down the road, and stopped at an open-air merchant shop that sold souvenirs, bread, and other assorted foods.

Anton rang a small bell at the counter of the shop, and the door behind the counter opened, and a short little man with dark skin, a big round nose, and a big blue coat with white fur lining it.

"Good morning Zunari," Anton greeted him, with a half-grin on his face.

"Good morning Anton, what can I do for you today?" He said, stepping back, and letting his now ravenous customer browse the foods on the shelves behind him.

"It's Astrid's twenty-eighth birthday today…"

"Oh dear boy, how are you?" Zunari said, a look of sadness falling on his face, he sincerely meant the question, and didn't feel so jolly anymore.

"I'm okay, it's been over five years, I'm getting breakfast for us now, do you have any OJ?"

"Yes dear boy," Zunari said, and reached under the counter, and pulled two glasses of OJ from the icebox. He set them on the counter, and said to Anton; "I assume you'll want bread?"

"Yeah, thanks Zu."

Zunari walked over to his left and pulled a loaf of bread that smelled of salt, butter, and the sea from the shelf. He placed the bread on the counter. "Anything else, boy?"

"Nope, thanks Zunari," Anton said, while pulling his wallet out. He reached in and pulled out a blue rupee. He set it on the counter near Zunari.

"Oh no," Zunari said, and pushed the rupee towards Anton. "On the house today…tell her I said hi, okay?"

"Sure Zu, and thank you, she would appreciate it." Anton put the blue back in his wallet, and placed it on his belt. He grabbed a small tray on Zunari's counter and placed the loaf and two glasses of OJ on it. He picked the tray up, careful not to spill anything.

Anton walked up a set of stairs to his left, and headed into the coffee bar. He walked up another small set of stairs and set his tray down on the counter.

A woman with orange-blonde hair, a tad shorter than Anton, and a red dress with a blue cardigan covering that and a white skirt turned to him. "Hey Anton, how's it going this morning?"

"Okay, Gillian, I guess, your husband gave me breakfast on the house, and I'm here to get some hotcakes, since you guys only cook them up here since that fire down stairs."

"Free breakfast? Must be some occasion…" She said, with a sly smile on her face, "Did you meet someone?"

"No, it's Ash's birthday."

"Oh," Gillian dropped the pot of coffee she was carrying and covered her mouth. "Oh Anton," She rushed from her place behind the counter and embraced the man. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"No Gillian, it's not your fault, let me help you with that coffee."

"Oh no, you sit tight and I'll have your hotcakes done in a jiff." Gillian went back behind the counter and grabbed a rag from under the counter, and started wiping up the shattered ceramic and coffee.

Anton looked around the bar as he waited for his hotcakes. A few sailors who stayed up all night were heading out, and a few other residents of Windfall were starting their meals.

He turned and found Gillian at her griddle, hard at work making Anton's hotcakes.

"How's your kid doin'" Anton asked as Gillian flipped the hotcakes.

"Mila?" Anton nodded. "She's not doing well, ever since that storm she's been really down. She works her butt off at her dad's shop, but that's about it. We encouraged her to go back to school, but she says she doesn't need an education now that the auctions are run by Zunari." Gillian flipped the hotcakes onto Anton's plate, and started cleaning the counter. "She loved running It before, but when the storm hit, the business was bought by Maggie's dad, and he's driving it into the ground. If Zunari and I could afford it, we would buy it, but we're struggling as is. Coffee?" She asked. Anton nodded, and she started brewing a pot.

"Zunari needs the auction job at night, and Maggie's father won't give the job to Mila."

"Didn't she have a job at Dragon Roost sorting mail?"

"Yeah, but after the monsters started appearing in the cavern, she stopped going."

"The monsters were all slain though…"

"She's still scared that they might come back."

"Where is she now?" Anton asked, as Gillian served him his coffee.

"Downstairs, still sleeping. I feel bad for her, everything in her life taken away. Her mother, her wealth, her father, the kid's been through so much."

"She's lucky you guys adopted her," Anton said, as he sipped his coffee.

"And since I can't have children, Zunari and I thought it would be a perfect arrangement. I still would like more children though, so Mila wouldn't be so lonely."

"I should get home so I can eat."

"Mmk, well, tell Ash I said happy birthday."

"Thank you." Anton said, and picked up his tray, now laden with steaming, buttery syrup drowned hotcakes, two glasses of ice cold OJ, Anton's steaming Coffee, and the salty loaf of warm bread, and walked down the stairs.

He exited the bar and walked down the next set of stairs. "See ya Zu," He called out as he walked back to his house.

_Linda hugged Sue-Belle, and wiped a tear from her eye, as the salty waves of Outset Island licked at their feet, which were covered only in sandals. Linda was wearing an orange dress that went down to her ankles and had elbow length sleeves. She had blue-black hair that she had brushed into a bun. Sue-Belle was wearing a pink dress with ornate designs that went down to her knees, and had arm length sleeves. A gold locket hung from both their necks. She had purple-blue hair that flowed to her mid-back. Both sisters had sea-blue eyes._

_"I'm gonna miss you," Sue-Belle, and hugged Linda again. _

_ "You too, Sue, Make sure you write to me, I wanna hear all of your crazy stories."_

_ "Pfft, if anyone is gonna have crazy stories, it'll be you…Your moving to Dragon Roost."_

_ "Yeah, I know it sucks, but I need the money, times are tough now, Sue, and when I get enough to pay off the house, I'll come home."_

_ "How long is the trip?"_

_ "About two months."_

_ "Wow, that's not gonna be fun."_

_ "I know; I just hope there aren't any storms."_

_ "Like the one two years ago?"_

_ "Yeah, hey…" Linda fished around in her pocket and retrieved a small white pearl the size of a pea. "Here," Linda put in Sue-Belle's hand, "I want you to have this."_

_ "Thank you…Where did you find it?"_

_ "A clam got stuck on Zill's pants a few days ago, and this was inside of it." _

_ "Thank you sis…What is it you're even doing at your job, every time I ask you, you avoid the question."_

_ "Sue, if I tell you…Tell Zill and Joel I said good-bye…" Linda stuttered, and stepped off the dock onto the boat._

_"Linda!" Sue-Belle cried out, but Linda had already gone into the cabin of the ship._

_ The small shipping vessel Linda had stepped onto launched out, off the dock._

_ Sue-Belle sat down on the dock and hugged her arms to herself, silently sobbing as the moon sunk over the horizon._

Anton took a sip of his orange juice, and set it down on the table on his balcony, which hung over the north end of the island. He pushed hit now empty plate to the center of the table and sighed.

"I miss you Ash," He whispered to the pictograph sitting across the table from him. "I miss you so much."

Anton pushed his chair out and stood up. He grabbed his plate and walked inside his house. He walked into his kitchen, and set his plate in the sink.

Anton strapped his sandals to his feet again, and left his house.

Anton set off on his daily walk around the island. He loved the walks. They kept him in shape, and he liked seeing the children out on their recess break. He like the smell of the sea, and the flowers that were spread throughout the isle. He like talking to fellow neighbors.

Every day he would always stop at the Ferris wheel and ride for hours, like he and Astrid always did in the evenings. That day he did just that, but by himself. Anton recalled when he first met her as he rode the Ferris wheel that day.

_Anton pulled a few purple rupees from his wallet and set them on the counter in front of him._

"_All right then," Lenzo said, and stashed the rupees in his huge yellow coat. "The pictograph will be delivered tomorrow; do you want it to be arriving a certain time?"_

"_No, I'll be home." _

"_Okay, would you like me to show you any other pictographs?"_

"_Sure, but I'm not sure I can buy anymore."_

_Lenzo chuckled, and motioned for him to follow as he walked up a short flight of stairs to his pictograph room. Anton looked around, and paused at the sight of a woman with her back to Anton. She was looking at a picture of an Island. She had ash-blonde hair that went over the front of her shoulder in a single braid. She stood around Anton's height. She was wearing a grey and black tunic that clung tightly to her sides, and her legs were covered tightly in black pants that went below her black hide boots that went three or four inches above her ankles._

_Anton walked up to her and whispered to her; "It's a beautiful Island isn't it."_

_She didn't turn, "Yes, it is, have you been there?"_

"_Not yet, I hope to someday."_

"_What's your name?" She asked, still not turning._

"_I suppose I should see the face of someone before I give them my name."_

"_I suppose so," The woman turned, and Anton tried not to fall backwards. She was beautiful. Her eyebrows arched over her stormy grey eyes onto her dainty nose, her lips were plump, and red, red as blood, as if she had kissed an open wound, and not wiped her lips. The front of her tunic was laden with ornate designs, and the neckline stooped daringly low. A silver pendant hung from her neck on a silver chain. She looked eerily beautiful, and Anton shook the desire to faint. _

"_Anton," He said._

"_Astrid," the woman said, smiling slightly._

"_Did you buy anything?"_

"_No, I was thinking about buying one of a fountain sculpted of my great-grandmother, but I had to use the loo. When I came back, it was gone. Did you buy anything?"_

"_Yeah, why is your grandmother a fountain?"_

"_Long story, do you know who bought the fountain pictograph?"_

"_Yeah, sure, do you live on Windfall?" Anton was starting to sweat a little from his brow._

"_No, Mrs. Marie is my aunt, I'm visiting for the week, I usually stay at her private oasis a few quadrants from here, it takes a month to get here, but it's worth it. Can you tell me who bought the painting?"_

"_Yeah I can…Why are you visiting now?"_

"_Her birthday is soon; may you tell me who bought the painting?"_

"_Uh, catch ya later," Anton said, and bolted down the stairs and out of the Pictograph shop. _

_A few hours later Anton's door was knocked on._

_He answered…It was Astrid._

_ Lynda loved to play on the island when she was little. She would run, and jump, and play all over the place with her sister and Link. She was twenty-four now. Sue-Belle was nineteen, and Link was eighteen. The years of fun had passed. Link was always either at sea with Orca and Mesa; fishing, or hanging out with Sue-Belle when she wasn't watering the pigs, that left Linda as the third wheel, and the oldest, so she had to be the one to worry about when her parents would ship her off to some island to work because she couldn't do anything at outset, due to a lack of things to do. _

_ That was happening now; she was being shipped off to Dragon Roost. Her parent's didn't care that monsters used to inhabit the caverns; they just needed to pay the house off. They were so close to finishing, but after the storm, they needed to pay for the losses, since Link's grandma didn't have money, and nor did Mesa. Mesa's wife, Link's parents, and grandfather, and Linda's Grandmother were lost in the storm._

_ Not to mention that Aryll had eloped the weekend before the storm…She and her then-husband were killed… The entire sea was devastated. Businesses were shut down, families were lost, entire Isles flooded completely. The Islands all tallied up, and the losses went into the hundreds… Windfall barely made it…The Island was flooded for weeks, and a few almost starved, but the water came down. The businesses recovered, and started up. Funerals happened, people wept, and they moved on. _

_ A year after the storm the monsters came…_

_ The Chu-Chus came first, thousands swarmed the Islands, and when the Chu's bodies decayed, and the suffocated bodies remained, the bokoblins came. They ate what they could find, they killed what they could, and they stole everything. Then came the waves…The waves sunk ship after ship, all controlled by the big Octo's. The waves didn't affect the islands much, but they brought monsters onto ships, which plundered, and fled, before the ships sank…_

_ Linda's ship was brought down by the plundering monsters, and the waves. Lucky she lived._

**LINDA WAS ALIVE?!**

Linda opened her eyes slowly, trying to avoid any salt-water and sand coming in and blinding her. She rolled onto her stomach, and looked up. She saw bricks, and one man in a green vest and blue pants. She moaned, and the man turned to her.

_"Astrid?" Anton said, surprised she found him. _

_ "It's a small island," she said, as she pushed past him into his house, leaving the drizzly air outside._

_ "Roomy place, it could use some life though, the walls are empty, and…" She looked around. There was no furniture at all in the common area. _

_ "I just moved in two weeks ago, and I started decorated this room today…"_

_ "I know you bought the fountain picto, I asked Lenzo, and he told me you bought it."_

_ "Are you mad at me? Are you here to stick a knife in my gut, wait for the picto, and steal it?"_

_ "If only…" She whispered, and spun on her heel toward Anton's room. It was vacant, except for his bed, nightstand, and candlestick. "Great Hylian goddesses, Anton!" She snapped, and Anton scurried into his room._

_ "You need to get some stuff in here."_

_ "I told you, I'm working on it."_

_ "Where are you gonna put that pictograph?"_

_ "Uh….I haven't figured that out yet."_

_ "Anton, can I make a proposition?"_

_ "Sure."_

_ "I'm here for a week. My Aunt is busy teaching for the next few days, so how about you and I go on a little adventure for furniture."_

_ "Where do we go?"_

_ "I know the place."_

_ "Okay, I'll take you up on your offer, how much do you want?" He said, motioning his wallet._

_ "Nothing from their dude, you're already gonna be spending most of that on décor. Since you've been drooling on me all night-"_

_ "I've only known you for four hours."_

_ "Stop interrupting!"_

_ "I've only interrupted once, soooo."_

_ "Shut up! Now, since you've been drooling on me all night, I will help you decorate/furnish this place, in exchange for one date seven days from now."_

_ "Wouldn't that be two things for me and nothing for you?"_

_ "Dude! I LOVE doing this kind of stuff, you know, furnishing and decorating. And I kind of want to know…what you are like, on a date…" She put her hand on his chest, and looked up at him. From up this close, she was a few inches shorter, and he couldn't resist her adorableness._

_ He sighed; "I'll think about it."_

_ He was so glad he agreed to think about it, for then…_

Anton strolled down the path from the plaza to the dock; he wanted to see the ships catches today. As he arrived, he didn't see any ships in the distance, just huge waves tumbling against the docks. The evening light glistened against the rough waters, and the sunset was in a deep hue of orange and yellow on the horizon.

_Oh no…_ Anton thought as he walked to the docks. His fears were confirmed when he saw the wreckage in the water. More lives lost…

He turned to get help when he heard a quiet moan. He spun on his heel. And looked to the beach, where the moan came from. He wandered over to it, and looked down. A woman with tangled up blue hair lay on the sand, boards trapping her legs down.

"Are you okay?" Anton said, frantically hopping down to the beach.

She moaned again, trying to speak, but the salt water had dehydrated her so she couldn't speak. Anton tried lifting the boards from her legs, but they were too heavy.

"H-Hang on," Anton stuttered, climbing over the sand and wreckage to the Island, "I'll be right back!"

Linda hoped he would…


End file.
